Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine is a health care field, which dwells on the uniqueness of an individual’s clinical, genetic, genomic and environmental information (Ginsburg & Willard, 2010). Since two thousand years ago, personalization has been a major aim of medicine. Now, the composition of the genome and blood proteins is making it possible to predict an individual’s likelihood of getting a disease. As discussed below, modern genetic technology brings us closer to disease diagnosis and treatment on a personal level (Personalized Medicine Coalition, 2011).
Modern Genetic Technology
Various factors determine the quality human health. Genetics is one of them and it is an individual attribute. Additionally, environmental attributes of a population also affect the genetics of an individual. The obvious principles of public health, which include proper hygiene already control common infections and nutritional disorders. However, the practice of medicine still has to deal with disabilities that mainly have a genetic origin.
Genetic technology is influencing personalized medicine in many ways. The pharmaceutical industry produces various drugs, which have chemical components. These drugs have varied effects on an individual’s recovery as they depend on his or her genetic background. Researchers and practitioners use several gene-based analyses to deal with such cases. Out of this practice, several diseases are now curable. Hematopoietic stem cell transportation is an example of this analysis. Here, molecular biological techniques allow practitioners to match unrelated organ donors who are available in public and private gene registries (Gosh & Gorakshakar, 2010).
As genetic technology advances, more applications arise on how to prevent diseases and promote health. Already, gene technology allows for the stratification of susceptible subgroups to control their exposure to certain diseases. Today, oncologists are using genetic testing opportunities to test syndromes of breast cancer. Other applications include the testing and repair of gene mutations to offer fast recovery to cancer patients. In this case, practitioners match the physiognomies of a patient’s tumor with a precise diagnosis and appropriate therapy (Ginsburg & Willard, 2010).
Using modern genetic technology makes it possible to treat genetic diseases and diversity the counseling options that were available (Gosh & Gorakshakar, 2010). Nowadays, there are intelligent therapies like enzyme replacement and substrate reduction used to treat Gaucher’s disease. Researchers are now able to silence or activate certain genes selectively. The Hydroxyurea therapy uses the same principle to treating sickle cell anemia (Gosh & Gorakshakar, 2010).
Research by Poland, Kennedy and Ovsyannikova (2011), shows that it is now possible to conduct personalized vaccinology. Modern genetic technology makes it possible to profile vaccine-induced immune responses. In future, such responses would be predictable. Thus, naturally processed and presented immunogenic peptides offer the possibility of identification and sequencing. As the researchers put it, this implies the likelihood of arriving at a new method of finding candidates for a vaccine (Poland, Kennedy, & Ovsyannikova, 2011). There is a high chance of developing breast cancer for women with BRCA1 gene variation. For this group of women, a BRCA1 gene test guides preventive measures, which include prophylactic surgery or chemoprevention (Personalized Medicine Coalition, 2011). This is only one application of genetic tests. There are more than 1600 such tests, which signal the susceptibility to numerous health conditions for persons.
Conclusion
In personalized medicine, practitioners are now able to use genetic markers in a person as signs of a disease risk or its actual presence. With modern gene technology, this can happen even before clinical symptoms appear. Therefore, the technology offers us the ability to prevent or treat diseases early in their development.
References
Ginsburg, G. S., & Willard, H. F. (2010). Essentials of genomics and personalized medicine. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Gosh, K., & Gorakshakar, A. (2010). Integration of modern genetic knowledge and technology into public health in India. Indian Journal of Human Genetics, 16(2), 45-46.
Personalized Medicine Coalition. (2011). The case for personalized medicine. Web.
Poland, G. A., Kennedy, R. B., & Ovsyannikova, I. G. (2011). Vaccinomics and personalized vaccinology: Is science leading us toward a new path of directed vaccine development and discovery? PLoS Pathogens, 7(12), 1-6.